BNP Standing Committee member and Dhaka-2 MP Aman Ullah Aman has pledged to institutionalise democracy under the leadership of Tarique Rahman, saying the struggle for voting rights and human rights must now be followed by efforts to strengthen democratic institutions.
“We will institutionalise this democracy under the leadership of Tarique Rahman. This is our resolve and pledge on Shaheed Jihad Day,” he told journalists after paying tribute at the Shaheed Jihad memorial at Dainik Bangla intersection in Dhaka today (10 October).
Aman recalled that student leader Nazir Uddin Jihad was killed on 10 October 1990 during the anti-autocracy movement against then president Ershad.
Jihad had travelled to Dhaka from Ullapara to join a programme to blockade the Secretariat. He was shot when Ershad’s forces opened fire on a procession led by then opposition leader Khaleda Zia, Aman said. Jihad was taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital, where doctors declared him dead.
After his body was taken to Dhaka University, Khaleda Zia and other national leaders arrived there. Student leaders then pledged in front of Jihad’s body that they would not return home until Ershad’s regime fell and democracy was restored, Aman added.
He said the pledge helped intensify the anti-autocracy movement. Leaders of 22 student organisations subsequently united to form the All-Party Students’ Unity, and a nationwide strike was observed on 11 October.
The movement continued amid repression and attacks on student leaders. Dr Shamsul Alam Khan Milon and many others were also killed during the struggle, Aman said. The movement eventually led to the fall of Ershad’s government and the return of elections under a democratic system.
‘People had to fight again for democracy’
Aman Ullah Aman said democracy had subsequently faced repeated setbacks, while one-party rule had curtailed democratic rights, forcing people to struggle again to regain them.
He said Tarique Rahman later announced a one-point movement against the authoritarian government, prompting people across the country to take to the streets.
“Through the blood of thousands of students and people in August 2024, we regained the right to vote,” Aman said, adding that the movement had paved the way for a change in government and an election.
He said voters had placed their trust in Tarique Rahman and brought the BNP back to power through the ballot.
The pledge on Shaheed Jihad Day was to safeguard voting rights and establish democracy as a lasting institution under Tarique Rahman’s leadership, Aman added.
BNP Joint Secretaries General Khairul Kabir Khokon and Habib-un-Nabi Khan Sohel, along with party climate affairs assistant secretary and lawmaker Mustafizur Rahman Babul, were among others present at the programme.
Source: https://www.tbsnews.net/bangladesh/politics/democracy-be-institutionalised-under-tarique-rahmans-leadership-mp-aman-1568111
